WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–National Geographic, with Appian Way and Warner Horizon Scripted
Television, announced today that Patrick J. Adams (“Suits”) will star in THE
RIGHT STUFF as Maj. John Glenn. This marks the network’s next global
scripted series, which is based on Tom Wolfe’s iconic best-selling
nonfiction book. The series takes a clear-eyed look at what would become
America’s first “reality show,” as ambitious astronauts and their
families become instant celebrities in a competition that will either
kill them or make them immortal in the quest to be a part of Project
Mercury. Production will begin this fall in Cocoa Beach, Fla., and will
premiere globally on National Geographic in 2020.

Glenn is a revered test pilot and committed family man with unwavering
principles. He is the only astronaut to have experienced fame before
Project Mercury, and he immediately locks horns with Alan Shepard in an
unrelenting fight to be the first man in space.

The first season of THE RIGHT STUFF, which uses Wolfe’s book as
its starting point, starts at the height of the Cold War. To combat a
national sentiment of fear and decline, the U.S. government conceives of
NASA’s Project Mercury, igniting a space race with the Soviets and
making instant celebrities of a handful of the military’s
adrenaline-fueled test pilots. These individuals, who come to be known
as the Mercury Seven, are forged into heroes long before they have
achieved a single heroic act. At the heart of a historic drama populated
by deeply human characters, two archrivals — Glenn and Shepard — jockey
to be the first man in space.

Subsequent seasons of THE RIGHT STUFF will carry through to the
epochal Apollo Space Program, where humankind saw one of its greatest
achievements — man setting foot on the moon — and missions beyond.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson are executive producers, along
with Mark Lafferty (“Castle Rock,” “Halt and Catch Fire”), who has
signed on as showrunner. David Nutter (“Game of Thrones,” “Band of
Brothers”) is set to direct and executive produce the series’
premiere episode. Will Staples (“Animals,” “Shooter”) is also an
executive producer. Michael Hampton shepherded this project on behalf of
Appian Way.

National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between Disney
and the National Geographic Society, is committed to bringing the world
premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled
portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic
television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo
MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and
consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines;
National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms;
books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include
travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and
e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our
world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 131 years,
and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going
further for our consumers … and reaching millions of people around the
world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP
returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic
Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation
and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com
or nationalgeographic.com,
or find us on Facebook,Twitter,Instagram,YouTube,LinkedIn
and Pinterest.

About Appian Way Productions

Appian Way is a film and television production company founded by
Leonardo DiCaprio. Jennifer Davisson serves as president of production.
Since its launch, Appian Way has released a diverse slate of films,
including Alejandro Iñárritu’s three-time Academy Award® and Golden
Globe® winner “The Revenant,” Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award®- and
Golden Globe®- nominated “The Wolf of Wall Street”
and Academy Award®-nominated and Golden Globe®-winning “The Aviator,”
along with “Shutter Island,” Scott Cooper’s “Out of the Furnace,” George
Clooney’s Golden Globe®-nominated “The Ides of
March,” the psychological thriller “Orphan” and an adaptation of
Dennis Lehane’s critically acclaimed novel “Live
by Night” with Ben Affleck, among others.

The company has put forth strong efforts to gain headway in the
documentary world, especially as it pertains to progressive
environmental change. Appian Way worked in partnership with National
Geographic to produce “Before the Flood,” a
documentary that sheds light on climate change. It also worked with
Netflix to produce the Academy Award®-nominated “Virunga,” directed by
Orlando von Einsiedel. Appian is in partnership with Netflix on several
additional documentaries, including the critically acclaimed “Struggle”,
“The Ivory Game,” “How to Change the World”
“Catching the Sun,” and the documentary series “Fire Chasers”. Last year
Appian also produced the critically acclaimed documentary series
“Frontiersmen” as a sequel to the “Men Who Built America” for the
History Channel, “Jonestown: Terror In The Jungle” for AMC/Sundance and
currently is in production on a multi-part documentary series about
Ulysses S. Grant, also for History Channel.

The following projects are currently in priority development at Appian:
a feature adaptation of the Japanese manga “Akira” directed by Taiki
Waititi, a “Grant” feature based on Ron Chernow’s book to which DiCaprio
is attached to star and Steven Spielberg is attached to direct; “Da
Vinci” based on the bestselling book by Walter Isaacson, “Sam
Phillips” based on the bestselling book by Peter Guralnick, also
with DiCaprio attached to star, “The Ballad of Richard Jewell,” starring
Jonah Hill; as well as “The Twilight Zone.”

Appian’s animated children’s series “Pete the Cat,” based on the famed
books by James Dean just received a 2nd and 3rd season pickup by Amazon
and Alcon. The company also has multiple television projects in the
works with Sony, Warner Bros, NBCUniversal, Fox 21 and MRC.

About Warner Horizon Scripted Television

A division of the Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Horizon Scripted
Television was founded in 2006 and is one of the entertainment
industry’s leading producers of dramatic and comedic programming for the
cable and subscription/on-demand marketplace. Series produced by Warner
Horizon Scripted Television include “Animal Kingdom” and “Claws” for
TNT; “Cherish the Day,” “David Makes Man” and “Queen Sugar” for OWN;
“Fuller House,” “Medical Police” and “You” for Netflix; “Krypton” for
SYFY; “Pennyworth” for EPIX; “Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists”
for Freeform; and “The Right Stuff” for National Geographic.